http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070514a5.html
Monday, May 14, 2007
PROMISING AN 'EVOLUTION' IN TOILET CULTURE
Toto hoping Americans will warm to bidet-toilet
By KAZUO MIKAMI
NEW YORK (Kyodo) When she visited Japan in December 2005 for the first time in
12 years, Madonna said she had missed the warm toilet seats.
A Toto Co. employee shows off one of the company's Washlet bidet-toilets
at its Tokyo showroom in Shinjuku Ward. KYODO PHOTO
The dance-pop sensation's high marks for the bidet-toilet aroused a ripple of
laughter during a news conference upon her arrival in Tokyo.
But Madonna is only one of a few Americans who have used the product.
In Japan, the bidet-toilet is a standard fixture in many houses. Around 60
percent of households are now equipped with such high-tech seats, a sharp climb
from about 23 percent in 1995, according to a survey by the Cabinet Office.
The bidet-toilet is sold in Japan by market leader Toto Co., its archrival Inax
Corp. and major electrical machinery makers such as Sanyo Electric Co.,
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Toshiba Corp. and Hitachi Ltd.
Toto's bidet-toilet first gained public attention with a landmark TV commercial
in 1982, which carried a promotion phrase: "Buttocks, too, want to be washed."
Although bidet-toilets remained expensive for a long time, fierce market
competition over the years has brought down their prices even while recent
products have adopted more high-tech features such as a buttocks dryer and a
sensor-equipped lid that opens automatically when someone stands in front and
closes after the job is done.
"It may be appropriate to describe the bidet-toilet as a toilet seat with warm
water, bidet-style washing," said Atsuko Kuno, a Toto spokesperson in Tokyo.
Toto started importing a bidet-toilet, called Wash Air Seat, from American
Bidet Co. for sale in Japan in 1964. Two years later it started domestic
production.
In 1980, the company launched sales of the domestically produced Washlet. Sales
of the product grew steadily, and cumulative sales surpassed 20 million units
in 2005, making it the market leader with a share of more than 30 percent.
Washlet has now become the common name for bidet-toilets in Japan.
Besides Japan, Washlets are sold in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea,
Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, India, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, the United States and
Canada.
But the company acknowledges on its Web site that Washlet is not as popular
abroad as in Japan, though it says it is confident the product promises an
"evolution" in toilet culture.
"Washlet is the kind of product whose popularity and demand grow through
experience of use and word of mouth," Toto says.
Based on this concept, the company has offered the product to hospitals, office
buildings and sports facilities free of charge.
The company's medium-term management program, which started in 2004, called for
boosting its overseas Washlet sales index to 515 in the 2006 business year from
100 in 2002.
In the United States, explosive sales are unlikely in the coming years,
industry analysts say.
Some observers say the number of plumbers there well-versed in the installation
of Washlets is still limited, making it hard for the company to offer adequate
after-sale service.
"No, that's not the main reason. Expertise is not necessary to install the
Washlet in homes and buildings," said Kenichi Kusakabe, who manages T.I.C., a
Manhattan agent of Toto. "The main reason is that it's very hard to explain
what the Washlet is to Americans who have never been to Japan.
"Some Americans are worried they may be infected with bacteria and viruses by
using such bidet-toilets.
"New York Yankees players (Hideki) Matsui and (Kei) Igawa recently ordered us
to install Washlets in their apartments. Orders also come from Japanese
businessmen in New York. American users are mostly those who have been to
Japan," Kusakabe said.
"Moreover, we face a number of problems such as strict restrictions that
building management companies impose on the installation of equipment at
toilets and different specifications of toilet seats."
Last month, Toto marked its 90th anniversary. Ironically, also in April it
announced a recall of more than 180,000 Washlets for free repairs due to
reports of 29 cases of the units emitting smoke or catching fire.
Even so, the major sanitary ceramics manufacturer aims for steady growth in
U.S. sales.
"We expect U.S. sales this year to grow 15 percent from last year to 33 billion
yen," said Toto's Kuno.
Toto has set up showrooms in such places as New York, Chicago, Florida and West
Hollywood, Calif., where local agents are displaying a variety of Washlet
models and offering after-sale services.
"Washlet in New York - is it a luxury way of life? No, we don't think so," says
the ad placed by T.I.C. in a free New York paper for Japanese residents.
Washlets are priced in the U.S. at about $ 599 for standard models and $ 1,000
for luxury units. Installation costs around $ 150.
With the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing and the 2010 World Expo set for
Shanghai, the company is poised to take advantage of a construction boom in
China.
"We project China sales to increase 10 percent to 37 billion yen in 2007," Kuno
said.
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